A former female sergeant who endured grueling harassment by a clique of guards at the Rensselaer County jail known as the "Boys Club" was awarded a judgment worth nearly $2 million by the state Division of Human Rights.

A state administrative law judge's decision found the jail's leaders engaged in "deliberate inaction" that was "wanton ... willful and ... malicious." The ruling, which gives the county 10 days to file an objection, was issued a year after the Division of Human Rights heard testimony about years of repeated mental and physical harassment of Lora Abbott Seabury, 45, by a group of guards that included sergeants and lieutenants.

Seabury started working at the jail in 1993, but left her job on disability in 2010 and was under the care of a doctor for serious emotional trauma and depression. She eventually took a job at Walmart. State records indicate she was a solid employee and ranked at the top in civil service exams she took to become a jail officer and later a sergeant.

The harassment against Seabury peaked in 2010 when, as a watch commander, she filed disciplinary action against two officers who were sleeping on duty. One of those officers, Richard Fenton, had allegedly sexually assaulted Seabury three years earlier by touching her breasts and buttocks. She did not report the alleged abuse by Fenton in 2007 because she was afraid how other guards would react, according to records in the case.

But as harassment of her intensified she brought her complaints to a captain, Harold Smith.

The administrative judge found that Smith, who was a friend of Seabury's and fielded her complaints almost daily, did nothing to stop the abuse or report it to internal affairs. Smith told Seabury to "tough it out" and ignore the behavior, which included male guards calling Seabury "bitch" and "whore" and making "rat noises" at her after she reported a fellow guard for sleeping on the job, according to state records.

"She was tormented by a number of guards very openly, senior guards, sergeants and lieutenants, as well as the correction guards," said Seabury's attorney, Kevin A. Luibrand. "They thought it was funny to make fun of her and to make her cry."

Two other female guards reported similar sexual harassment, but their allegations were not as severe.

"The description of the atmosphere at the jail was well-known to the administrators to be one of hostility, bullying and intimidation by employees to other employees," wrote Christine Marbach Kellett, a state administrative law judge. "Yet Smith, though aware of the cliques and their behavior, did not take any steps, much less effective steps."

The human rights decision, dated last week, includes $183,859 in lost wages, $300,000 in compensatory damages, $90,000 in penalties and four future years of full pay — estimated at more than $87,000 annually — along with pension credits if Seabury had worked four more years, which would give her 25 years of service. The judge's ruling on the pension credits, coupled with an average life expectancy, means the judgment for Seabury could be worth more than $1.8 million.

None of the guards accused of harassment were called by the county to testify at the trial last year. They were accused of being part of two cliques, one consisting of Sgt. John Hayes, and Officers Timmy Hayes, David Hayes and Jimmy Suriano. A second clique was identified as Sgts. Mark Piche, David Higgitt and David Connell Jr., and Officers Jamie Kozowski, Joe Bruno and Jay Burns. "The groups had a reputation for 'bullying' other officers," the judge wrote.

Sheriff Jack Mahar said he has not read the decision but he doesn't tolerate bullying or sexual harassment. "If it's reported to us we take immediate action it, but it has to be reported to us," he said. "A lot of times someone may come forward long after the fact. We can't go back and change things, but we can definitely hold people accountable."

Piche resigned from the sheriff's office last July, and he is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation which includes allegations that officers pushed inmates to vote in the 2011 election in a failed effort to unseat Mahar.

The probe also is exploring accusations by officers that Piche and Kevin Rogers, another jail officer, looted union dues.